Part & Parcel: The Downtown Happy Hour Spot We’ve All Been Waiting For

“One should always be drunk. That’s all that matters. With what? Wine. Poetry. Or Virtue. As you choose. But get drunk.” – Wise words to live by Charles Baudelaire.

Part & Parcel opened up in the Whitehall Hotel earlier this summer. It’s a spacious patio bar with high tables, bright yellow bar seating, lounge chairs and vine covered trellises. Located at the corner of Smith and Jefferson, it’s situated in such a way between the downtown high rise buildings that you never have direct sunlight on you, making it the perfect place to cool down from the Houston heat.

We went to Part & Parcel on a Friday afternoon to check out the new cocktail menu and had a delightful time. There was a live band playing, and we found out that P&P has live music most weekend nights to set the vibe. There was corn hole set up in the corner and some families (presumably guests at the hotel) were playing. All the seats at the bar were full of hotel guests and local business workers relaxing after a long well. We seated ourselves at some couches near the music and began the difficult decision of deciding what we wanted to drink. The cocktail menu is pretty fantastic. We started off with the Pamplemousse (perfect if you love grapefruit!) and the Watermelon Mojito (summer classic). For snackage, we tried the Queso Flameado–aka melted cheese — aka heaven. It came in a skillet and was topped with black beans, corn and pico. It was served with tortillas and salsa. Absolutely delightful.

Watermelon Mojito

Hello Beautiful. Queso Flameado for the win.

The Pamplemousse

For our second round (of course there was a second round–see quote above), we went with the Mott’s Manhattan and the Coco Flor. Mott’s was strong but had sweetness from the cherry and is named after a hotel regular (#goals). The Coco Flor was absolutely delicious, made with St. Germaine Elderflower and coconut water. It was also topped with an “edible” flower, that was not as edible as we had hoped (i.e., don’t eat it). We also split a plate of street tacos. Natalie went with the fried oyster (tastes like chicken) and I did the veggie (avocado for days). P&P really nailed the street taco vibe and delivered the plate with salsa, cilantro and fresh chopped onion as add on toppings. Also they were made with corn tortillas–a personal favorite of mine.

Coco Flor & Mott’s Manhattan

The Coco Flor

Is it possible to look cute while eating a taco?

Street Tacos

After working downtown for the past couple of years, I feel like Part & Parcel is the happy hour spot that I’ve been waiting for! It’s one of the only bars (that’s not sticky AF in Midtown) on the south side of the city. Given it’s location, it’d be the perfect spot to host a corporate happy hour or event.

Do note: Part & Parcel can get a bit windy. I’ve been there two times now and both times have had several strong gusts of wind. I think this comes with the territory of being located downtown between a bunch of tall buildings, but if you’re wearing a flowy skirt to work that day and don’t want to risk flashing people, you may wanna put on spanx before you go. But I can’t wait to go back!